Not actually if I have misunderstood this, but it would seem that you can only have one order number.
If I create an order say order number one and convert this to an invoice, the client will see order number 1 on their invoice.
I am not 100% clear whether they should see this number as surely the sales order is internal reference only?
Secondly and more importantly, if a client sends me their purchase order number, I don’t see anywhere to put their PO number. It is very useful when a client receives an invoice that on their invoice that their purchase order number is displayed somewhere so that they can go to their purchase order and convert that to a purchase invoice.
Instead of using automatic numbering, should I be using the client’s purchase order number as the reference field in the Sales Order?
Please advise what is the correct procedure to enter my Sales order number and the clients Purchase order number? I see that Quotes and Sales Invoices I have automatic numbering 1, 2, 3, but with purchase invoices I have the suppliers invoice as the reference number. So unsure what number goes into sales order? My number or the client’s PO number?
Also could the sales quotes and sales orders and purchase orders change the name from “reference” to quote number and order number on the forms, so it’s very clear what the reference number is actually referring to.
Imo, I don’t think you should be using customer reference number as your main reference since SOs are mostly for internal purposes and having a hodgepodge of customer numbering sequences is only going to confuse whoever is fulfilling them.
But I could be wrong, you might be able to manage with client reference but I couldn’t and used a custom field to store the customer PO number
Why is this an issue? I do not think it is. In the first place, a sizable fraction of businesses do not ever show a sales order to a customer. They use them only for internal purposes, as you say. In the second place, if they do, knowing their supplier’s internal sales order number seems helpful. If there is a question, they can inquire and make reference to the supplier’s sales order, which will help identify the order in question. Think about commercial documents you see. They often have multiple references of different types. Anything that helps zero in on relevant documents and forms seems like something good.
Why not in the main Description field? After all, that is what your sales order is in response to. That will be carried forward through copying.
You certainly can, if you want. Personally, I would not, for the reason @Ealfardan mentioned.
There is no rule. Do whatever helps with your particular workflow.
I am in agreement with both of you. The order number should be your internal order number not the client Purchase Order.
@Tut. If they have my invoice, what on earth would showing them my order number accomplish. They would just give me the invoice number. I am referring to the fact that you can see the order number on the sales invoice. But the client has the invoice number anyway. They will never use nor need the sales order number.
The description field is already used for say “Samsung Monitors” and would come from the Quotes.
would you consider adding a purchase order number field for the client as part of the new workflow for quotes and orders. When a business receives an invoice for an order that they have already put onto the system, it would be very helpful if they could find their purchase order if my sales invoice had their purchase order number on it.
I agree with the other posters. The order number on the sales order should be my internal order number. It makes sense for me to see this on my invoices so I can find the relevant sales order. But I cannot see any value (although it’s not a security concern) for the client knowing the sales order number. As it has no security concerns, I am not really bothered either way. I think it just confused me as the client’s purchase order reference number on the sales invoice would be of far more use to the client than my internal sales order number?
Last, the sales invoice is very confusing now. If you create a brand new sales invoice, you have two quote number and order number fields. One next to client and one next to invoice reference number. If you fill out the ones next to the client, the ones above next to invoice reference number disappear. The customer ones are obviously linked, whereas the top ones are clearly free-form. Is this something that you are working on as this is confusing. I presume that the free-form fields will be deleted at some point?
Don’t know if it is related, but when you copy a delivery note from a sales order, it shows the order number as just 1 which is correct. However if you create the same delivery note from the sales invoice, for some reason the invoice number on the delivery note is shown as #407 – 5-Jan-21. So the two are inconsistent and secondly I cant see the point of having the date next to the invoice number. Again, the client being able to see the internal sales order number on a delivery note is of questionable value.